


Coping Strategies

by 1000PaperCranes



Category: Dreamworks Dragons, How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2015-07-07
Packaged: 2018-04-08 02:45:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4287789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1000PaperCranes/pseuds/1000PaperCranes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How do Stoick's wife and best friend manage his loss?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coping Strategies

As desperately glad as Valka was to be back on Berk with her son, and even with the added comfort of having dragons everywhere she turned, life with people was overwhelming. So much so, that she had developed a habit of running away. She would disappear for days at a time ‒ usually three, sometimes more, but almost never less. She had managed two weeks initially, Hiccup's grief and her own masking the symptoms of town life. When she had disappeared the first time ‒ the first several times ‒ Hiccup had nearly lost his mind. Now, the lad joked that his mother gave the majority of her week, that is four days, to Berk and the rest to the Dragons.

 

Those first weeks had been the hardest for Gobber, who was sorely missing his best friend, but needed to be strong until Berk's new leaders could settle into their roles. The real breakthrough had come when Astrid had taken charge of Hiccup. The lass filled in her intended's gaps and together they made an indomitable team. Over the last months, life in Berk had recovered enough that people have returned to gossiping about the progress of Astrid and Hiccup's relationship, real or imagined. Gobber, for his part, was slow to heal though he hid it well.

 

This week, something urged Valka to return to Berk early. Cloud Jumper coasted in under the light of the moon. The village was fast asleep, except for the Forge. She would have to find a way to trick Gobber into sharing his grief, but not tonight.

 

Landing on the roof, Valka slipped silently into Hiccup's room. The bed was empty. Perhaps her son had finally taken to sneaking around with Astrid. Instead of stoking the fire, Valka stripped off her riding togs in the main room. It was looking to be the easiest night she'd ever spent on Berk.

 

Valka froze in the bedroom doorway, not quite believing what she was seeing. Stoick was in their bed, right where she somehow always expected him to be. But no, the man was blonde, and after another moment she recognized Gobber. Valka fetched a thin wool gown suitable for the time of night before approaching the foot of the bed. She paused, somehow unwilling to wake the man stowed away in their bed.

 

The Viking was dead asleep, on Stoick's side of the bed no less. Gobber's bad leg was pulled up, resting out from under the light blanket. Beneath a sheen of lanolin, Valka could see a wide burn across the inside of his thigh. How he got it _there_ she wasn't quite sure she wanted to know. Both of Gobber's prosthetics were off, set aside for the night, and it made him seem vulnerable.

 

Valka looked up to find Gobber's eyes watching her. She didn't make a sound over being caught staring; he was in her bed after all. She almost asked him what he was doing there, but the words stuck in her throat.

 

He smiled waterily at her, exhausted. "I lost him, too." Gobber's voice was so low, also ensnared by the night's spell, that Valka nearly didn't hear him answer her unspoken question. Gobber turned his hand over, offering his palm in an invitation that could be easily, harmlessly, ignored. She accepted it with nary a thought.

 

Valka climbed over the end of the bed, crawling into his arms. Gobber's good arm cradled her close, his one remaining hand warm on her shoulder. Valka wept silently against his chest, and if Gobber breathed shakily into her hair, she wouldn't tell. And if they forged a bond, to fill the void left in Stoick's wake? Well, that was between them and his ghost. And the dragons, of course.

**Author's Note:**

> If you chose to read this as Stoick/Gobber and Gobber/Valka, I am happy to agree with you. Although, on the night depicted, I think they just cried and slept.
> 
> If you chose to read it as platonic parings, that is cool, too. I wanted people to be able to make that choice, and that's why I tagged it the way I did.
> 
> As always, this work is unbetaed, feel free to point out mistakes.


End file.
